CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06, Zacks reports. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $5.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $247.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 652,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,815,242. The stock has a market cap of $89.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $235.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.